On July 15, Gov. J.B. Pritzker unveiled a new plan to mitigate the continued spread of COVID-19 in Illinois, splitting up the state into 11 regions instead of the four regions outlined in his original Restore Illinois plan.

The new guidelines aim to take a more granular approach to coronavirus mitigation, targeting smaller areas than the original plan did and separating Chicago into its own region.

Add a little more than half a million dollars to the $22 million that Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan has at his disposal.

Madigan is the chairman of four political campaign funds. Illinois campaign finance expert Kent Redfield said Madigan has a lot of options.

Commonwealth Edison and Exelon executives, for the first time saying something extensive about the scandal engulfing them in a hearing today before the Illinois Commerce Commission, put forth a vocal defense of the company even as they offered words of contrition.

While they guaranteed that ComEd customers wouldn’t pay more to cover any of the utility’s $200 million fine under its deferred-prosecution agreement with federal prosecutors, they did admit that ComEd customers will indeed pay for the steps the utility is taking to police itself.

In his first public comments since admitting earlier this month to a Springfield bribery scheme, Commonwealth Edison CEO Joe Dominguez apologized Wednesday for the power company’s conduct – but quickly added that he did not think the public had suffered as a result of the scandal.

“I wanted to apologize on behalf of the entire company,” Dominguez told officials at a meeting of the Illinois Commerce Commission, which regulates ComEd and other public utilities in the state.

The state on Wednesday released new guidelines for youth and recreational sports that will drastically limit allowable activities based on the risk of spreading the novel coronavirus.

Gov. JB Pritzker announced the new guidelines at a COVID-19-related news conference in Chicago Wednesday, calling it a “situation where the toughest choice is also the safest one.”

The head of the Illinois Commerce Commission defended her role in leading a hearing to demand utility company ComEd not pay its fine for corrupt lobbying practices with ratepayer dollars despite her family connection to the investigation.

ICC Chair Carrie Zalewski didn’t get out of the public comment period before her connection to Commonwealth Edison’s disclosed criminal acts were made an issue Wednesday.

The Illinois Education Association and the Illinois Federation of Teachers are pushing back against plans to open schools and universities this fall, threatening to take action if safety measures to thwart the spread of the deadly coronavirus can’t be ensured.

The two unions, which collectively represent about 238,000 teachers and staff at universities and K-12 schools, said in a statement that they support some in-person instruction if safety standards can be achieved, but otherwise they contend courses should remain online this fall as they were last spring when the pandemic hit. The responsibility and enforcement for meeting state, federal and medical guidelines must be clear, they said.

One of Chicago’s biggest tourist destinations is struggling to attract tourists.

Navy Pier has only seen 15 to 20% of its normal summer numbers — resulting in a projected $20 million deficit this year, according to a Navy Pier statement.